The US Coast Guard recently intercepted 273 migrants off the Florida Keys and returned them to Matanzas, Cuba.
While more than 4,400 migrants from Cuba and Haiti have arrived in the state by boat since August, more than 700 landed in the Florida Keys over the New Year’s weekend, according to officials. Many traveled across the perilous Florida Straits in improvised motorized rafts to reach the communist island’s 100-mile (160-kilometer) capital.
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Consequently, Florida’s National Guard was recently called up by Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. In response to an email requesting comment on the mobilization, the National Guard did not reply right away.
The ACLU’s executive director, Tiffani Lennon noted, “as migrants arrive at our shore, our number one priority as a state should be to ensure that every person is safe, healthy, cared for, and treated humanely.”
“Instead of politicizing the issue, elected officials must work with groups on the ground and assist organizations that have stepped up to welcome and support migrants and people seeking asylum,” Lennon continued.
DeSantis chastized Democratic Party President Joe Biden, as well as the federal government’s immigration policies and response to the migrants who had arrived in the Keys.
The governor’s message made no mention of the Biden administration’s announcement of a new policy to begin returning illegal immigrants from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, and Nicaragua at the Texas border. Furthermore, the government said that it would issue humanitarian parole to up to 30,000 inhabitants of those four countries each month if they filled out an online application, paid for their travel, and found a sponsor.
Since August, over 4,400 migrants, predominantly Cubans with some Haitians, have landed by boat in Florida as both nations’ political and economic difficulties worsen. Because Washington and Havana do not have diplomatic ties, sending Cubans back once they are in Florida is difficult.
